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The Senate Democrats’ budget sets discretionary spending for the current fiscal year at $1.058 trillion. The annualized spending level in the continuing resolution that was passed to reopen government set spending at $986 billion. Republicans want to keep in place the overall sequester number, which if Congress doesn’t act would fall to $967 billion in January, but offset the defense sequestration which would cut nearly $20 billion from the Pentagon at the start of 2014.

Republicans want to avoid those defense cuts, as do Democrats. But how each side would do so is likely to be the biggest sticking point of the budget conference committee.

Democrats want to find new revenues, most likely by closing unpopular tax loopholes. Republicans want to cut non-defense spending and change entitlement programs like Medicare and Social Security to offset the Pentagon’s budget cuts. Both the House and Senate budgets break the sequester limit and set the Pentagon’s budget at $552 billion.

Members of both parties have expressed some interest in considering the other side’s arguments.

Reforming the tax code was a frequent, bipartisan chorus at the meeting. But while Democrats support doing so to generate revenue, Republicans have long said that any additional funds should be used to lower tax rates.

“Today, our tax code is full of carve-outs and kickbacks,” Ryan said. “We need to get rid of them — and those bipartisan talks are just the way to do it. So let’s do all we can to encourage that effort.”

Rep. Tom Cole (R-Olka.) has already expressed some openness to closing tax loopholes, a position that conflicts with some members of his party, but also recommended other revenue sources like allowing more oil and gas exploration on federal property.

“No party will get everything that it wants and no side can dictate to the other,” Cole said during his remarks.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) also tried to make the case for closing some tax loopholes.

“You cannot honestly say that the debt and deficit are mortal threats to our nation but at the same time less important than every tax loophole in the code, that cannot be our position,” he said.

And Republicans showed signs that another government shutdown isn’t something they support, suggesting they would be willing to work to some sort of compromise.

“I was not in favor of the strategy that led to the shutdown, I’m not sure anybody in this room was,” Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Penn.) said.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), the ranking member on the House Budget Committee, also raised the prospect of recommending immigration legislation as a way of lowering the deficit.

Graham echoed that suggestion, saying it would grow federal coffers to have more workers.